Here I intend to offer some information for birdwatchers resident or
visiting Islamabad, Pakistan's administrative capital. I had the pleasure
of working there for six months from April to October, 2002. Although Islamabad
is quite boring as a city (it's small, unhistorical, and artificial, like
Brazil's capital Brasilia), it is one of the best possible postings in
the world for a birdwatcher. If living in a house or villa, one probably
gets dozens of interesting bird species to be watched right in one's own
garden, besides of wild boars, mungoes, jackals, porcupines, flying foxes,
Rhesus monkeys, and other mammals that regularly visit those gardens that
are close to the city's edges. In ten minute's walking distance from the
centre, or from the villa districts where most Westerners are living, you
will be in wild nature, and you can just choose, which of the two bird
paradises you would like to visit on your morning jogging today.

1) North of the city, there are the beautiful Margalla Hills, with everything
for a birdwatcher. There are bushy hill slopes with some limestone precipices.
There are gorges and valleys with jungle, evergreen forest, dry forest.
Every ravine of the Margallas is a microcosm, and a birdwatcher staying
there for longer periods will eventually always end up facing somewhat
sensational observations. This is also partly due to the relative scarcity
of keen ornithologists, and due to the many ongoing changes in the avifauna,
like the changes in wintering sites of some Indian species, spreading of
dense vegetation birds into the gardens of Islamabad, westward expansion
of the ranges of many Indian bird species that have relatively recently
become urbanized. And so on. Just behind the first range of the Margallas,
you will find valleys with cultivation and villages, but also with jungle,
rivulets, and new hill ranges. On the top of the hill ranges there are
chir pine forests with their own characteristics birds.

2) South of the city there is the Rawal Lake, if you prefer wetland
birding, or don't have the physical shape for hill trekking. The reedbeds
of the Rawal Lake are full of interesting birds, like are the forests and
bushes around the lake.

These two are "musts" for a birdwatcher visiting Islamabad. Both are
on walking distance from the centre, but you can also take a taxi. The
small yellow and black local Suzuki cabs are cheap. For driving up to the
Margalla Hills (if you don't want to climb), you'd better take a larger
car, since Suzuki may break down on the steep rise. But even cheaper way
is to take the pickup car up, or to the first village on the other side
of the first Margalla Ridge. Concerning the lake, you can start your walk
for example from the Margalla Dam, which any taxi driver will find.

There are even more opportunities in the city. First, there is the Saidpur
village with its surroundings (five minutes walk from the north-eastern
villa districts). Secondly, there is the Fatima Jinnah Park (an empty square
of wild nature almost on the western side of city centre), with some grassland,
forests, a rivulet, and so on. Finally, driving pass the Rawal Lake towards
Rawalpindi, there are some hilly open lands, with for example Mr. Mushtaq's
staples, close to a little wetland, which also proved very good birding
place. Here it could be mentioned that Islamabad has no clear centre, but
many; it has been planned into squares with letters and numbers, each one
having a small centre, plus the more expensive Blue Area along the straight
central streets. This strange city plan is explained by others with the
supposed freemason background of Pakistan's founders, but a more logical
explanation is that Jinnah copied it directly from the city plan of ancient
Taxila.

If you want to add some hundreds of species more to your list, you can
make a day trip to the Murree Hills and Ayubia National Park, which are
close to Islamabad. There you will find an incredible variety of habitats
and bird species any time of the year. There are nice and well marked trekking
routes, and you can reach the area by taxi or by cheap local bus. There
are also hotels and so on. But here I first concentrate in the birds of
Islamabad city area. That is already remarkable. No wonder that there has
been such an over-representation of birdwatchers among the Diplomatic Corps
of Islamabad, as well as among Kashmir observers, missionaries, aid workers,
and business people posted in Islamabad. I must here thank Katja, with
whom I shared so many of my treks and trips around the region. I also thank
the fellow birdwatcher Patrick Bird (nomen est omen), and the Pakistani
colleague, who is ranger at the Ayubia National Park and has been working
on charting the seemingly endless list of bird species that can be seen
in there.

A former Finnish chargé d'affaires in Islamabad, Mr. Mikko Pyhälä,
was also an ornithologist, and he has written a book, "Birds of Islamabad",
published by the WWF, Lahore, in 2001. To this book I am very much indebted,
and I would recommend it to everyone planning to watch birds in Islamabad
area. It gives a detailled list of every species observed in Islamabad,
their status, and seasonal occurrence. I failed to find this book in the
bookstores of Islamabad, but it can be bought directly from the WWF Pakistan
either in Islamabad or in Lahore. Many other useful books on birds of Pakistan
(including a huge two-volume publication "Birds of Pakistan") are available
in many good bookstores around Islamabad. I used especially the excellent
book "Birds of the Indian Subcontinent" by Grimmett, Inskipp & Inskipp.

Here is one day's account from the Rawal Lake. I hope to add later some
reports from the Margalla Hills and Murree Hills, as well as from longer
trips to NWFP, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Lahore's parks, and Karachi.

Rawal Lake, 25th Oct 2002

Let's take just one walk as an example. The following birds were observed
by me on the northern side of the Rawal Lake on 25th October, 2002. (That
was my farewell trip to the lake, and I was also hoping to see first arrived
wintering migrants from Siberia and Central Asia.)

Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis. Common. It is mainly
a wintering species, but probably also breeds at Rawal Lake.

Little Cormorant, Phalacrocorax niger. 2 present. According
to Pyhälä, this bird is a vagrant, which has been observed at
Rawal Lake only once before. Well, now there were two of them, and I don't
doubt the identification.

Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo. 1 seen flying from
distance. Mentioned as regular and common winter visitor to Rawal Lake.

Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax. Common
here at summer, now scarce, but 1 flushed from a tree.

Indian Pond Heron (Paddybird), Ardeola grayii. Abundant.

Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis. Common.

Little Egret, Egretta garzetta. Abundant.

Intermediate Egret, Egretta intermedia. 1 found on a reedbed
path. This species is not so common, and like Great Egret, Egretta
alba, it's not always found on every visit. (This time there were no
Great Egrets.)

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea. 2 on the open side of the lake
near the dam.

Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea. 1 flushed from reedbed.
This was my first Purple Heron in Islamabad. Probably the same individual
was observed also later same day.

Common Teal, Anas crecca. 1 flushed into flight. This
was the only duck present. Perhaps the large flocks arrived only later
that year, or perhaps they were in other parts of the lake.

Black Kite, Milvus migrans. Abundant.

Shikra, Accipiter badius. Frequent.

Long-legged Buzzard, Buteo rufinus. 1 very clearly observed
present.

Eurasian Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. Frequent.

Grey Francolin, Francolinus pondicerianus. Frequent. (Black
Francolin, Francolinus francolinus, is even more common around
Islamabad, but more on the Margalla Ridge.)

Common Quail, Coturnix coturnix. At least one seen. It
was my first quail in Islamabad, and assumed to be this species, because
this one has been confirmed to occur here (unlike the very similar Rain
Quail, Coturnix coromandelica).

Brown Waterhen, Amaurornis akool. Common - and openly
seen swimming at many occasions.

Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus. Had arrived in very large
flocks (totally more than 100) to the forests around Rawal Lake. I don't
really know where these flocks come from, since I haven't observed this
species for example in the mountain areas, from where many wintering species
come. Then it might be that these birds are really migrants from very far
away from Kazakstan and Russia. Nearest place where I have observed this
species breeding is Kyrgyzstan.

Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto. Abundant.

Palm Dove, Streptopelia senegalensis. Common.

Spotted Dove, Streptopelia chinensis. Common, but more
scarce than in summer.

Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri. Abundant.

Common Koel, Eudynamys scolopacea. Still present (later
migrates).

Greater Coucal, Centropus sinensis. Common.

Spotted Owlet, Athene brama. 1 seen.

House Swift, Apus affinis. Common.

White-throated Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis. Abundant.

Pied Kingfisher, Ceryle rudis. Abundant.

Hoopoe, Upupa epops. Common.

Blue-throated Barbet, Megalaima asiatica. Seen 1 this
time.

Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, Dinopium benghalense.
Common; seen and heard at least 5 individuals. I consider this species
the most common breeding woodpecker of Islamabad, but because literature
thinks it's only "frequent" and only "probably breeding", I assume that
like many other Indian species, also this one has been expanding its range
lately.

Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos auriceps. 1 seen.

Crested Lark, Galerida cristata. Common.

Small Skylark, Alauda gulgula. At least 2 seen.

Brown-throated Sand Martin, Riparia paludicola. Common.

Pale Sand Martin, Riparia diluta. Present in small numbers.
(Like the previous species, breeds in colonies some way north of the lake.)

Magpie Robin, Copsychus saularis. Common. (Abundant species
throughout Islamabad; has expanded its range to west and north with remarkable
speed.)

Dark-grey Bushchat, Saxicola ferrea. Several individuals
present. This is a wintering species which appears about in same times
when the abundant breeding species, Pied Bushchat, Saxicola caprata,
starts to disappear.

Blue Rock Thrush, Monticola solitarius. 1 present.

Blue Whistling Thrush, Myophonus caeruleus. Common (several
seen).

Fan-tailed Warbler, Cisticola juncidis. Frequent.

Tawny Prinia, Prinia inornata. Abundant.

Yellow-bellied Prinia, Prinia flaviventris. 2 in reeds.

Common Tailorbird, Orthotomus sutorius. At least 1 calling.

Hume's Leaf Warbler, Phylloscopus humei. Present in a
mixed flock.

White-throated Fantail, Rhipidura albicollis. 1 present.

Black-chinned Babbler, Stachyris pyrrhops. 1 seen (!);
this and some other babblers are very skulking and probably much more common
than would be expected.